A fugitive who has given law enforcement agents the slip since last fall was captured following a short foot chase at a south Gilmer County home Friday by Drug Task Force agents and Pickens and Gilmer County sheriff’s deputies.
Zell Miller Mountain Parkway Drug Task Force Commander Brandon Owens said officers were able to capture Tony Boyd Griggs, 40, of Ranger, following an anonymous tip on his whereabouts.
Owens said they got a tip at the Drug Task Force office that Griggs, who was wanted for aggravated battery, burglary and theft by receiving, was at one home. Drug Task Force officers used an unmarked car to spot and then follow Griggs as he traveled to another home.
When it appeared Griggs would remain at the second house, a Timber Fern Road residence in Gilmer County, the DTF called the Gilmer SWAT team and Pickens K-9 officer for backup.
“We knew that other times he had been encountered, [Griggs] had fled on foot,” Owens said. “We knew that he would run.”
In February, Griggs fled on foot when officers surrounded a west Pickens address and eventually used an armored car to break down the door and fire tear gas into the home.
This time Griggs ran out the rear of the home, but he encountered the Pickens K-9 officer with dog. The deputy gave verbal commands to stop and lay on the ground, but Griggs continued running, trying to hide in a truck parked in the area, Owens said.
Officers saw him get into the truck and were able to surround it and arrest him there, Owens said. Griggs was not armed at the time, nor were any firearms found in a search of the vehicle and home, but Griggs had been considered armed and dangerous.
Three other people were also arrested for harboring a fugitive. They were Stephanie Quinton, Tony Prather and Dion Kirby, all of Jasper, according to reports from the Drug Task Force Commander. They were taken to the Gilmer County Jail.
Owens said this was the second time that Quinton, who he said was Griggs girlfriend, had been arrested for aiding him in escape or hiding.
Owens said the anonymous call had been instrumental in locating the fugitive. He said Griggs had some possessions with him, but it did not appear he was living at any one location. “He was always at different addresses,” Owens said. “He wasn’t staying anywhere very long.”
Following the west Pickens standoff in February, the Pickens County Sheriff’s Office stated that the capture of Griggs was a top priority. |
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